Searching For Meaning[1]

Since the beginning of my retirement I have been asking myself; “who am I”. I believe that this blog is an important task that I have created for myself as I find information to send out to the world of the internet.  According to Dr. Osborne “Meaning provides coherence to our lives and leads to purpose.”  “ Our meanings may originate from our private experience of be taken from an outside source like science or religion. (While I grew up inside a Christian church in later years I have been closer to scientific research that focuses on level of probability rather than certainty).

Some of the things that meaning can take are:  “Trying to make the world a better place for others, working for a cause (civil rights); creating a new idea using technology; creating an art form or work of art; making the most of one’s life; working on one’s evolution to higher states of consciousness (I love meditation).  “The question remains as to the point of creating these types of meanings.  The concern is whether there is an ultimate meaning that encompasses all meanings.”  For me helping others has always been important ; quite likely because I was the oldest child born in my parent’s family and learned early that being a helper is “who I am.”

“Being part of a group or collective gives us the meaning of belonging to a group, ( for years I have been on the board of the local senior’s centre-LSRS. I have a meeting this afternoon.)  We need to work on our own self-development within the context of a world beyond narrow self-interest.  At the same time we need to be careful we don’t trade our potential self-hood for the security of the collective.”  Good Luck!

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[1]  The Above post was gathered from Essential Retirement: Psychological Concerns presented by John W, Osborne   ISBN  0-9738303-9-1